644 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



E^BKUART 25, 1904. 



I Ti-ill just add that the zonale gera- 

 nium, perhaps our most important sum- 

 mer flowering garden plant, is such an 

 accommodating, free growing plant that 

 it is abused and in many plant manufac- 

 turing establishments it is entirely quan- 

 tity, not quality, that is sought. In one 

 place Tou wUl see the lifted stock plants 

 along "the side of a walk on the ground ; 

 in another place you will see cuttings 

 stuck in the sand as tliick as the pio- 

 Tcrbial hair on a dog's back, crowded 



so that neither light nor air can pene- 

 trate between them, and if you are guile- 

 less enough to buy a thousand of these 

 plants at some seemingly low figure, you 

 will find they are worthless for any bed- 

 ding purpose that year, but may do to 

 plant out for getting a few cuttings off 

 of the following fall. Bench room is 

 what counts in our business and a gera- 

 nium can't be sold cheap, for it takes 

 room to grow it. 



W. S. 



CARNATION NOTES-EAST. 



Topping Young Stock. 



Young stock will soon need attention 

 in the way of topping and the future 

 habit of the plant will depend much on 

 the manner in which this operation is 

 done. Every variety has its own peculiar 

 habit, and "if left to itself the general 

 disposition will be to produce plants of 

 undesirable shape, consequently a con- 

 stant watch must be kept on the stock 

 in order that some plants may not out- 

 grow others and get beyond control, for 

 in spite of our plan to set plants of one 

 size together we find a certain propor- 

 tion grow more rapidly than others. 



I would not advise pulling out the cen- 

 ter shoot when topping, as there is danger 

 of moisture collecting in the heart of the 

 plant, which is apt to result in decay. Let 



by judicious topping a shapely plant can 

 be built up. Queen Louise possesses an 

 ideal habit and is easily grown into de- 

 sirable plants. 



All varieties tend to draw up some- 

 what under glass, but in the field take on 

 a more compact habit. A great deal 

 depends, too, on the general make-np of 

 the cutting as to the future shapeliness 

 of the plant, long jointed ones being al- 

 most sure to tax the patience of the grow- 

 er in his desire to obtain stocky plants. 

 A little extra attention now will not be 

 regretted later. Geo. S. Osboen. 



SOIL AND TEMPERATURE. 



We wish to know what soil is used 

 and what night temperature is main- 

 tained through the flowering season for 

 best results with the following carna- 

 tions : Mrs. Lawson, Enchantress, Pros- 

 perity, Gov. Boosevelt, Mrs. Palmer, 

 Adonis, Genevieve Lord,' Morning Glory, 



A Bench of Carnation Gov. Wolcott, Grown by the Livingston Seed Co. 



Flora Hill, Norway, White Cloud, Wol- 

 cott and Her Majesty. J. C. F. 



You can divide the list of varieties 

 you ask about into two classes and suit 

 them all pretty well. That is, of course, 

 providing you have a fairly heavy soil 

 of average fertility. I would grow En- 

 chantress, Gov. Roosevelt, Mrs. Palmer, 

 Adonis, Genevieve Lord, Morning Glory, 

 White Cloud and Her Majesty in 50 to 

 52 degrees at night and I would raise 

 the temperature about 5 degrees for 

 Mrs. Lawson, Flora Hill, Norway and 

 Woleott. I understand Prosperity wants 

 to be kept just about between the two, 

 say about 52 to 54 degrees. The cool 

 end of the warm section or the warm 

 end of the cool section would be the 

 place for it. Try a few Norway in the 

 cooler section, too. A. F. J. Baur. 



CARNATION GOV. WOLCOTT. 



We wish to add a good word for 

 Carnation Gov. Woleott; to prove what 

 we say we send herewith a photograph 

 of our patch, a flashlight, taken Febru- 

 ary 1. Alongside of Norway, Queen 

 Louise, Flora Hill, Innocence, Her Ma- 

 jesty, Lorna and White Cloud, it is in 

 every way by far the best white with 

 us. It is more productive, has longer, 

 stiffer stems, larger flowers, finer form, 

 pure color, is a grand keeper and leaves 

 nothing to be desired. AVhen compar- 

 ing the illustration with others, bear in 

 mind that between December 1 and Jan- 

 uary 1 every available shoot on the 

 plants was used for propagating. 



We also send a photograph of a bench 

 of Lawson in the same house, which is 

 the best we ever liiid it. By actual 

 count, if we had only Lawson and Wol- 

 eott in the house, i\e would cut six 

 times as many flowers as we do now, 

 not to mention quality or value. 



Both Lawson and Woleott are remark- 

 ably even, averaging three and a half 

 inches in diameter, on long stiff stems. 

 Other varieties in the house are lacking 

 in some essential. Mermaid has no 

 stiffness; Innocence, no constitution; 

 NTorway, too slow to bloom although a 

 giant in growth. Compared with Nor- 

 way, Woleott will make a flower in half 

 the time. 



There are about twenty varieties in the 

 house, the main object being cuttings for 

 plants for our catalogue trade. The 

 plants were benched August 16 and 

 v\ere very small, the summer being so 

 dry, the cuttings propagated late and, 

 planted out late, June 1. Every flower- 

 ing shoot was stopped up to October 

 10 on all varieties, it being the desire 

 to get early cuttings. Between Octo- 

 ber 10 and December 1 the shoots were 



the plants get to that heiglit where the 

 stem can be seen between the joints, then 

 with a sharp knife make a clean cut, 

 leaving from four to six joints above the 

 soil, according to the natural habit of 

 the variety. 



I would lay particular stress on the 

 advisability of using a sharp knife in all 

 operations concerning the trimming of 

 carnations. Wounds made by careless 

 breaking or pinching off are slow to heal 

 and many times offer a means for lurking 

 diseases to gain a foothold. 



You ^vill notice a great difference in the 

 natural growth of the different varieties 

 and it is by close observance of this dif- 

 ference that we are able to maintain a 

 bushy habit in every sort. White Cloud, 

 for instance, is of sprawly growth, but 



A Bench of Mrs, Lawjon Grown by the Livingston Seed Co. 



